BENEFIT PLANS

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

The Company participates in and contributes to a number of multiemployer defined benefit pension plans under the terms of collective-bargaining agreements that cover certain of its union-represented employees. The Company acquired a defined benefit pension plan with the acquisition of Dover Downs on March 28, 2019 (“Dover Downs Pension Plan”) which is a non-contributory, tax qualified defined benefit pension plan that has been frozen since July 2011.

Dover Downs Defined Benefit Pension Plan

As the Company consummated the acquisition of Dover Downs on March 28, 2019, the net periodic benefit (income) cost was immaterial for the three months ended March 31, 2019. The net periodic benefit (income) cost and other changes in plan assets and benefit obligations, excluding service cost, is set forth in the table below for the three months ended March 31, 2020.


(in thousands)	Three Months Ended March 31, 2020
Service cost	$	—
Interest cost	223
Expected return on plan assets	(357)
Net periodic benefit (income) cost	$	(134)

Contributions

Minimum pension contributions of $0.5 million are required to be made to the Dover Downs Pension Plan under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, (“ERISA”) in 2020.

Under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), minimum required contributions for single-employer pension plans, including quarterly contributions, that are otherwise due during calendar year 2020 are instead due January 1, 2021. The CARES Act requires that any delayed contributions be increased by interest accrued between the original due date and the date of delayed payment. Prior to this action, the Company expected to contribute approximately $0.8 million to the Dover Downs Pension Plan in 2020. However, during the first quarter of 2020, the Company elected to not make a contribution to the Dover Downs Pension Plan.

401(k) Plans

The Company has a retirement savings plan under Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code covering non-union employees and certain union employees. The plan allows employees to defer up to the lesser of the Internal Revenue Code prescribed maximum amount or 100% of their income on a pre-tax basis through contributions to the plan. Dover Downs also maintains a defined contribution 401(k) plan, which permits participation by substantially all of its employees. Total employer contribution expense to both 401(k) profit-sharing plans was $0.5 million and $0.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.